Treaty 7 Science Fair held at Piikani Nation School

Chris Davis

Piikani Nation  School in Brocket hosted the Treaty 7 schools Science Fair on April 8.  121 students in grades 4 - 9  participated, coming from Chief Old Sun School (Siksika Nation), Tatsikiisaapo'p Middle School (Stand Off), Aahsaopi Elementary (Kainai), Saipoyi Community School (Kainai), Siksika Nation High School, Napi's Playground Elementary (Piikani), and from Piikani Nation Secondary School (PNSS).

The large gym at PNSS was used for student exhibits, one set of exhibits in the morning and another in the afternoon.  Students from the University of Lethbridge had four stations in the small gym at the school, presenting experiments, demonstrations, and fun activities for the kids throughout the day.

Judging for the science fair was based on a number of factors, the primary of those being an interview and the quality of the display.

"For a couple of years now, we have been in touch with Valerie Archibald," said PNSS/Napi's Playground Principal Rudy Schuh, explaining that Archibald represents the Science department at the University of Lethbridge.  "They come in and do science presentations. They come in on a weekly, or bi-weekly basis, with 'The Traveling Lab Coats'. They do different presentations on science."

The Traveling Lab Coats visit K-8 classrooms throughout the Lethbridge area, providing two hour science and technology workshops, including demonstrations, experiments and hands-on activities to help young students develop an excitement for science. ~ www.uleth.ca/science-camps/travelling-lab-coats

"It culminates in the science fair, where they can do a big presentation for everybody, not just our students."

Below, a sampling of just a few of the exhibits that were on display.

Tate and Juwan

Tate and Juwan's ten-day experiment "What happened to my apple?" examined the preservative power of different methods of food storage.  "Tinfoil works better than plastic wrap and wax paper," explained Tate. "They all rotted, but tinfoil kept it the freshest.. It was very fun. We put them all in (the fridge at) the same time."

Thunder and Jerez

"Growing Rock Candy Crystals" was one of the sweeter experiments.  "We grew all kinds of crystals," explained Thunder.  "Yeah, they're tasty."

Houston and Kyle

Kyle and Houston from Stand Off worked on their erupting volcano for a month.   "Volcanoes are very dangerous," explained Houston  "They kill a lot of people with the gas and the lava."  They gave me an effective demonstration of their volcano in action.

Brady and Kieran

Another experiment compared the amount of staining on teeth created by tea, coffee and cola.  Cola proved to have the biggest negative effect.

Carter

Carter and Joseph created glowing pop comparing a selection of brands including Orange Crush, Mountain Dew, and 7-Up. They added Hydrogen Peroxide, baking soda and a glow stick. "That's what made it glow," Carter explained.  Even in the bright light of the gym the effect was obvious.  "Mountain Dew is the best," he said.  "We turned off the lights and then it really glowed.  It's starting to fade now."

Tatum and Disa

"We wanted to talk about the four elements, fire, water, air and earth," explained Tatum and Disa, who also brought along an aquatic specimen to display.  "This is actually a jellyfish, it belongs to my school, Siksika Nation School," Disa said, before elaborating on the 4 aspects of their project.

Jellyfish

"Fire provides warmth, the ability to cook, and gives light. Air is important because it supplies oxygen and other gases that are essential for the survival of animals, human beings, and plants. Water helps everything grow. Only 3% is fresh water, and that 3% is actually getting contaminated. Water holds memory. It's like a giant computer. And earth, we live on it."

"We need it all to live. It's a cycle we can't live without."

Marisa and Meadow

Marisa and Meadow used different elements and a small torch to do experiments that combined flame, various elements, and resulting colours.  "This is supposed to turn red when I put a flame on it," Marisa explained as Meadow applied the flame to calcium chloride.  The experiments didn't always work out as intended. The young scientists speculated that their sample elements may have become contaminated. "This is green, it's a bluish green.  This was supposed to turn purple."

Throughout the process they learned "How to make coloured flames, and how to not mix stuff together."

Tiahna

Tiahna and Britney of Siksika Nation School focused on solar energy for their display.

"As you probably know, the sun's energy is probably one of the strongest renewable energy sources that we have," explained Tiahna. For our project, we created a solar trap."

A solar trap

"A solar trap, solar cooker, or solar panel is a device that uses the energy of direct sun rays to heat, cook, or pasteurize food or drink."  Among the attributes of a solar trap is that they are low tech, with no cost for fuel.

"My partner cooked a boiled egg in one. It got up to 100 degrees, which is really awesome I thought."

"Over 2 billion people cook on open fire," she said, explaining that solar traps could lead to a hge reduction of fuel consumption.  They are limited in that they don't work at night, in wind, and have reduced viability in cloudy situations.

"Cooking advocates suggest three devices for a total solution - a solar cooker, a fuel efficient cook stove, and an insulated heat container to carry your food inside."

"I really like this project because it is environmentally friendly. At the rate we're using fossil fuels and gases there will be a very limited supply for our children and future generations."

Shaylize

Shaylize had a similarly themed project, demonstrating some of the uses of solar ovens. She made nachos and smores in an oven crafted from a pizza box, tinfoil, pie plates, and saran wrap.  Simple, and very effective.

Shanielle

Shanielle from Saipoyi Community School showed off a groovy Flower Power experiment which used food colouring in the water to change the colours of cut flowers.  

Interview with PNSS Principal Rudy Schuh

Rudy Schuh is in his 17th year at Piikani.  He's the Principal of Piikani Nation Secondary School and Napi's Playground Elementary School. "It's worked out fairly well for me here," he said with a grin.

"We are part of the Treaty Seven Group, of all the schools in the Treaty Seven area. As Principals from all those schools we have meetings usually every other month."

"We have a program called Joint Initiatives, it is a federally funded program, so we received some funding from the federal government, to allow us to do inter-school activities."

"Some of those are cultural events, some of those are sports events, and some of those are academic events. This is one of the academic events. We have been hosting the science fair for a couple of years now, and we invited all of the Treaty 7 schools tho be a part of this. For the organizing, we've got a couple of years under our belts, so we're okay with that."

"Our kindergarten teacher has a strong science background, Sue Neumann, and she has been a driving force behind this. Also our high school math/science teacher Lyla Stephens."

"They really took the bull by the horns, and got things going. They were definitely involved in the whole thing."

"We really believe, strongly, that these joint initiatives are a good thing to do. It allows the students to develop their cultural, academic, and social skills in their schools when they can showcase them in this setting."

Other examples of joint initiatives the schools are involved in include volleyball, basketball, and handball tournaments, and a Heritage Fair.  There will be a Treaty 7 track meet in the middle of May at Siksika and "We are the host school for the Treaty Seven Education Conference next year. That's October 23 - 24."

I asked Principal Schuh if teaching social skills was becoming more important in these changing times.

"I think it is hugely important, because we are in a society that is becoming more and more introverted. We are becoming more focused on the internet, staying on our hand-held technologies, and becoming very isolated. We are trying to go the other way (as educators), saying that there is benefit to big group events, and interacting not just with your own community, but with communities that are like minded, and have the same goals and objectives. We all face the same kind of job, very similar. We get to share our ideas in those events."

I then asked him what were the biggest changes he's seen in his 17 years at Piikani.

"Staffing has remained quite stable in this school for a number of years now. In my mind, if you have stability in staff, it creates stability in the school, which creates stability in the community.

"I think there's a good relationship between the non-native and native communities together over the years.  I think it may have been more tense when I first came around.  I think that between Pincher Creek, Fort Macleod, and this community I think that a good sense of community has been established."

"Academically,  we have made some big changes with our literacy program over the last number of years," he said, adding that other positive changes include advances in math skills and projects like the science fair.

"We are trying to make some inroads, make some strides forward, so that the students are viable, employable good members of society when they come out."

"Harper has his 1.8 billion dollar package that should be coming down.  What do those numbers really mean? We don't know yet.  I think that the future of First Nations education is very positive because the federal government is seeing that we have a lot of employment issues."

"In the years that I've been here, I've taught students that have gone on to be teachers, RCMP force, windmill design and maintenance... A lot of alumni from here have gone on to be very successful in their careers."

"What is First Nations education, is it second rate? My line in the sand is that we offer the same curriculum as the province does. We offer a cultural slant to things, we offer the Blackfoot language. It doesn't take away from anything.  If anything, it enhances."

Science Fair Awards

Grade 4

1. Napi's Playground Elementary
2. Saipoyi Community School

Grade 5

1. Chief Old Sun School
2. Chief Old Sun School

Grade 6

1. Napi's Playground Elementary
2. Napi's Playground Elementary

Grade 7

1. Tatsikiisapo'p Middle school
2. Siksika Nation High School and Siksika Nation High School (tie)

Grade 8

1. Siksika Nation High School
2. Tatsikiisapo'p Middle school

Grade 9

1. Piikani Nation Secondary School
2. Siksika Nation High School

Grades 10-12

1. Siksika Nation High School
2. Siksika Nation High School